Back when Sheena Smith, our SVP Growth, was at Spend Matters, she worked with dozens of procurement and supply chain software providers who relentlessly touted their “voice of customer” efforts. “Our customers say this, they love that, they hate this. We center our entire go-to-market and product roadmap around what they want.” It sounded compelling on the surface, but Sheena shares it today as a cautionary tale.
“Voice of customer is valuable,” she explained. “But when you’re building, strategizing, and driving transformation, voice of market matters most.”
That principle is central to how the growth team at RiseNow operates. We prioritize capturing “voice of market;” insights from the conversations we’re having with the many organizations we haven’t worked with yet. Customer feedback is essential, but understanding the broader market is what keeps our strategy ahead of the curve.
Beyond research studies and data sets, hearing what’s going on directly from those who are living it is the most valuable intel we can get: it feeds our go-to-market motions, it tells us what’s really hurting and helping procurement functions, it shows us trends to share with our customers and internal teams, and it helps us best serve prospects, not just clients.
Out of 200+ conversations across 40 industries, with titles ranging from CFO to Director of Procurement Systems and Operations, here’s a high-level view of the themes we parsed out, each of which we’ll be diving deeper on through the end of the year.
Keep reading for a short preview of each theme and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and sign up to receive the posts via email as they go live.
1. It feels like we bought progress, but it was never delivered
“We’ve invested in modern procurement tools and completed major rollouts, but it still feels like nothing’s actually moving. Everything works, but progress has stalled." — Indirect Procurement Contact, Global Consumer Brand
A lot of organizations look digitally mature. On paper, they've done everything right: a big-name transformation, a source-to-pay rollout, connected systems, and training programs that seem to check every box. Yet beneath the surface, nobody worked on the work: changing the processes and taking out unnecessary steps. They just automated the old 7-step process and called it good. The early energy of transformation has given way to a slow erosion of confidence because at the end of the day, nothing really transformed.
2. Why am I going fast while everyone else is slowing down (especially risk)?
"Risk reviews live in a completely different workflow. Every time we want to move forward with a supplier, we get stuck waiting for someone else to weigh in." — Sourcing Manager, Enterprise Financial Services Company
Procurement wants to move fast on risk, and now they have access to the tools and processes that allow that. The problem? “Risk” in its many iterations (cyber, supplier, reputational, regulatory, legal, etc.) is slowing down because it’s just so complex. And because it (typically) lives in a completely separate workflow, it creates huge blind spots and bottlenecks. Teams are trying to hit deadlines, but they’re stuck waiting on someone else to give a green light. That internal misalignment often gets pinned on procurement.
3. The tech works, but the process doesn’t
"The systems are technically up and running, but we still have people doing the same manual workarounds. Nothing feels easier." — Procurement Transformation Contact, Multinational Manufacturer
Most organizations don’t have a tech problem; they have a reality problem. People know how to get around the system (and they do). Intake takes too long, supplier data is unreliable, and workflows are still governed by side spreadsheets and emails. No one knows who owns what. Procurement is getting blamed for poor adoption, but they were never given the chance to build a next-generation operating model and process people could actually follow.
4. I want orchestration, but I have no idea how to get it
"Everyone keeps saying intake-to-pay, but we don’t even have a shared view of what intake is supposed to be. It means something different to every team." — Procurement Ops Lead, Fortune 500 Tech Company
The term "orchestration" gets thrown around like it’s already standard practice. But the reality inside most organizations is very different. Intake happens in one tool, approvals in another, and supplier onboarding in a third. Nobody agrees on how requests should flow, and procurement gets stuck fielding every exception. Everyone wants orchestration, but nobody can draw it.
5. Savings are still slipping through the cracks
"It doesn’t matter how much we negotiate if people still go around the system. We’re leaving money on the table." — Director of Indirect Procurement, National Retailer
Tail spend is creeping up, maverick buying is back, and non-compliant suppliers keep getting paid. And somehow, there are still invoices showing up before a PO ever gets cut. This isn’t a savings problem. It’s a governance problem. And governance doesn’t get solved with another approval layer; it gets solved with clarity around how work actually gets done.
6. We went live, and now we're stranded
"The rollout is complete, but now the consultants are gone and people are using side spreadsheets to get things done. We’re not seeing the return we expected." — Finance Systems Owner, Large Apparel Brand
The system is live, but the process isn't. What started as a major initiative has quietly turned into a patchwork of workarounds. The consultants handed off, the training window closed, and teams are left on their own. Value isn’t showing up in reports. The solution didn’t stick because the structure wasn’t there to support it.
7. Custom systems work...until they don’t
"We built something that fits how we work, but now we can’t change anything without going through three teams and a six-month project plan." — Procurement Director, Technology Firm
Custom-built environments might look like a shortcut, but they usually become the long way around. Teams build for how they work today, not where they need to go. As soon as priorities shift, they’re stuck. Every integration becomes a one-off, every update is painful, and the person who originally built the thing has probably already left.
8. The supplier experience is still a mess
"One of our vendors told me, 'None of our other customers make it this hard to get started.' That says it all." — Strategic Sourcing Manager, CPG Manufacturer
Poor suppliers! Procurement wants them to show up strong, but the experience being offered is often clunky at best: onboarding takes weeks, portals don’t talk to each other, and communication is scattered. And there’s no visibility into what’s happening or why. The supplier experience is still stuck in 2004, and it’s hurting relationships, compliance, and speed.
9. I don’t know where to go from here
"They’ve modernized most of their tech stack, but are already hitting limits in what they can scale without rethinking how work flows." — Procurement Transformation Contact, SaaS Company
Even high-performing teams are starting to plateau. The stack is modern, the people are capable, and the budget is there, but forward motion is slow. The problem isn’t a lack of progress, it’s a lack of clarity about what progress is supposed to look like. And nobody wants to make the next move without being sure it’s the right one.
What comes next
Over the next several weeks, we'll dig into each of these areas, not only because we (selfishly) want to address them all as a part of our advisory and managed service practices, but also because we don’t see much “real talk” from procurement people themselves out there. It's one thing to name the problem, but quite another to help surface the structural shifts required to make real change.
If any of these challenges feel familiar, you’re not alone. And there is a path forward.
Coming soon, a familiar story: transformation fatigue and the slow erosion of momentum after the go-live.
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